SOPA lives—and MPAA calls protests an “abuse of power”

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) will move forward in the House this February …

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has looked at tomorrow's "Internet blackout" in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)—and it sees only a "gimmick," a "stunt," "hyperbole," "a dangerous and troubling development," an "irresponsible response," and an "abuse of power."

Wikipedia, reddit, and others are going dark to protest the legislation, while sites like Scribd and Google will also protest. In response, MPAA chief Chris Dodd wheeled out the big guns and started firing the rhetoric machine-gun style. His statement feels unusually angry for the normally unruffled trade group, but the MPAA has long asserted that Google simply wants to profit from piratical ad money.

Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.

As for SOPA, it's hardly dead—as some news outlets claimed this weekend. While House Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has expressed reservations about bringing the bill to a vote without "consensus," House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) is moving ahead with plans to mark up SOPA and move it out of committee. The most controversial bit, DNS blocking of "rogue" sites, will be removed from the bill.

"We will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to find ways to combat online piracy," he said in an announcement today. "Markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February."